Girl's Faith In Santa Unshaken After 'Marginal' Phone Call With Trump
A 7-year-old South Carolina girl left cookies out for Santa Claus even though President Donald Trump told her that belief in the big guy at her age was “marginal.”
As part of his Christmas Eve duties, Trump took a call Monday night from Collman Lloyd of Lexington, who had phoned the North American Aerospace Defense Command — which has operated a Santa tracker since 1955 — looking for St. Nick, The Post and Courier reported. The person who answered forwarded her call to the president.
“Are you still a believer in Santa?” Trump asks in a video taken at Collman’s home that was posted by the paper.
“Yes, sir,” she answered definitively.
“Because at 7, it’s marginal, right?” the president pressed.
Collman had no idea what “marginal” meant, so she responded, “Yes, sir.”
“You just enjoy yourself,” Trump concluded.
Donald Trump, answering phone call from 7-year-old on Christmas Eve: "Are you still a believer in Santa? Because at seven it's marginal, right?" pic.twitter.com/VHexvFSbQ1
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 25, 2018
The question rattled Collman a bit. “I was like, ‘wow.’ I was shocked. It wasn’t really (nerve-wracking), I just had to think of what the truth was,” she told the newspaper.
Trump got skewered by critics for the insensitive attempt at a reality lesson.
In a week of plunging stocks, a government shutdown and U.S. defense chief Mattis' unceremonious departure, Trump, stuck in White House instead of playing golf in sunny Florida, casts doubt on a 7-year-old's cherished childhood fantasy @Reuters https://t.co/MkyKUGKVHD
— Humeyra Pamuk (@humeyra_pamuk) December 25, 2018
Schmuck. https://t.co/hNlF7JOS4i
— Eric Goebelbecker (@egoebelbecker) December 25, 2018
Why is @realDonaldTrump
being called the Grinch on Twitter? https://t.co/P6a0UEv2oR— News18 Buzz (@News18Buzz) December 25, 2018
And the 7-year old replied he does still believe in Santa, but does not believe Trump's promises that Mexico will pay for the wall. Because even a 7-year old knows that isn't happening. #MerryChristmas
Merry Christmas Twitter. https://t.co/BTp4QPgKgO— Tony Stark 2020 💥 (@1IronMan2020) December 25, 2018
As for Collman, she and her siblings left milk and cookies for Santa and found presents under the tree the next morning. She got an American Girl doll, according to The Post and Courier.
The milk and cookies were gone.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.